Firefighters battle raging Southern California wildfire

Firefighters worked furiously Friday to keep a Southern California wildfire from burning more homes while crews in the north finally gained ground on deadly and destructive blazes that have burned for two weeks.

Aircraft have been making flight after flight, dumping water and bright pink retardant to protect Lake Elsinore and other foothill communities as the fire sweeps through the dense, bone-dry brush of the Cleveland National Forest.

The Holy Fire — named for Holy Jim Canyon where it began Monday — grew to nearly 30 square miles (77 square kilometers) after nearly doubling in size overnight. But firefighters also made progress, with containment doubling from 5 to 10 percent. (AP)

King Bass, 6, left, sits and watches the Holy Fire burn from on top of his parents’ car as his sister Princess, 5, rests her head on his shoulder Thursday night, Aug. 9, 2018 in Lake Elsinore, Calif. (Photo: Patrick Record/AP)

Firefighters battle raging Southern California wildfire

A firefighting helicopter drops water makes a water drop near the Cal Fire CCC Fire Crew from Camarillo Fire Center during the Holy Fire in Lake Elsinore, Calif., Aug. 10, 2018. (Photo: David McNew/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Firefighters battle raging Southern California wildfire

A firefighter battles flames next to homes during the Holy Fire in Lake Elsinore, Calif., Aug. 9, 2018. (Photo: David McNew/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

A firefighter consoles a man who is worried that his sister’s house (R) will burn during the Holy Fire in Lake Elsinore, Calif., Aug. 9, 2018. (Photo: David McNew/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

Firefighters battle raging Southern California wildfire

Helicopters pass through smoke from the holy fire burning through Orange and Riverside county that has increased to over 18,000 acres in Lake Elsinore, Calif., on Aug. 10, 2018. (Photo: Maria Alejandra Cardona/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Firefighters battle raging Southern California wildfire

Manuel Trujillo packs his belongings as flames of Holy Fire came very close to his home on 29000 block of Sandpiper Drive in Lake Elsinore, Calif., on Aug. 9, 2018. (Photo: Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Traffic makes their way south on I-15 as ash from the Holy Fire fills the air on Aug. 9, 2018 in Lake Elsinore, Calif. (Photo: Patrick Record/AP)

Firefighters battle raging Southern California wildfire

A firefighter sets a backburn to fight the Holy Fire as it burns in the Cleveland National Forest along a hillside at Temescal Valley in Corona, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018. (Photo: Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP)